title: Infection with classical swine fever virus: effects on phenotype and immune responsiveness of porcine T lymphocytes.
abstract: T lymphocytes obtained from pigs infected with a lethal dose of classical swine fever virus were analysed for phenotypic changes in the composition of T-cell subpopulations and for alterations in their immune responsiveness in vitro during the course of disease. Viral antigen detected in all subpopulations and the selective depletion of CD4- CD8- gamma/delta T cells showed that peripheral blood T lymphocytes were affected in the terminal stage (14-19 days post-infection) of classical swine fever whereas no implications for T lymphocytes were obvious during the first 10 days after infection. Furthermore, a depletion of CD1+ CD4+ CD8+ 'common thymocytes' was characteristic for the infected animals. Studies on immune functions of peripheral T lymphocytes revealed an abrogation of cellular immune responses as early as 3-5 days after infection and thus before detection of viral antigens in these cells. The data suggest that early immunosuppression represents a crucial event for the manifestation of classical swine fever.
authors.affiliation: Federal Research Centre for Virus Diseases of Animals, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pauly
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: König
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Thiel
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Saalmüller
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000032:analysis; D002455:Cell Division; D006691:Classical Swine Fever / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D010641:Phenotype; D013552:Swine; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000145:classification / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000145:classification / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000166:cytology; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D015703:Antigens, CD; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; C087086:glycoprotein E2, classical swine fever virus